Problems with Noise/Grain in photos in manuel mode, I've tried everything!!

[cryptorchidangel]

Hi! I am not a pro at photography, but I recently must have touched a setting on my camera that is causing a noise/grain. It seems to happen more as I am zoomed out. I have messed with everything on the camera - Shutter Speed, ISO, exposure/f-stop.... And I cannot figure out for the life of me what it is,
this is the photo that i recently took, the shutter needs to stay open longer but you get the idea and can see the noise problem

this is the photos I took previously that are really clear

I am on the manual setting, Ive tried so many things, maybe someone can identify the problem? I have a Sony DSC-F828. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

[hirejn]

Higher ISOs cause noise. Turning off noise reduction causes noise, especially with long exposures. Unprocessed RAW files contain noise. Low-quality JPEG settings create noise. Increasing exposure in post production creates noise.

 

[bratkinson]

I have messed with everything on the camera - Shutter Speed, ISO, exposure/f-stop!

"messed with everything" is definitely not the way to get a good exposure. Knowing the exposure triangle and both the positives and negatives of each setting is key.

As hirejn indicated above, there's many ways to get noisy pictures. The first step in correcting the problem is to understand your camera and what going beyond 'auto mode' can/can't do.

 

[tirediron]

The absolute best way to control noise is to make a technically correct exposure at the lowest possible ISO. I can't pull up an EXIF data on these images for some reason, but the specular highlights make me think that maybe all you're using for light are overhead fluorescent lights... Adding even one diffused speedlight to a scene this small will easily allow you lower your ISO to 100-200.

 

[Stolarczyk]

What was your ISO at?

 

[andrewkurcan]

Alright, just going off your exif data, your "clear" photo is a stop slower than the "blurry" - but everything else is the same... are you actually shooting at ISO 64? The lighting looks wildly different between the two - were you using strobes in the first one? More info, please!

 

[KmH]

Because of the way digital images work, we have to be most aware of the exposure of the highlights, and let the shadows take care of themselves.
As mentioned, underexposure tends to make image noise more visible. (Digital image do not have 'grain'.)

This concept is known as expose-to-the-right (ETTR), which is a reference to the image's histogram.
Optimizing Exposure
ETTR
Exposing to the right - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Note: If you shoot Raw files, the image/histogram on the camera's rear LCD is not an Image/histogram of the Raw file. The camera has to embed an edited JPEG Basic thumbnail image in the Raw file to display on the rear LCD, and the histogrqam the camera displays is the histogram of that edited JPEG.

 

[orb9220]

Sony DSC-F828

Now we see how the F828 is able to put 8 million pixels into a chip that is significantly smaller than those in a 6 megapixels DSLR. They've made the pixels smaller — about 2.5X smaller.
​

So, good for them, you say. What's wrong with that? Potentially the problem is what we used to call grain (when dealing with film), which we now call noise, and which is better described as signal to noise ratio (S/N). S/N is exactly what it says — the ratio of the signal (that which carries information) to noise (that which carries no information but which is there regardless).​

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ISO 64
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Essentially non-existant​

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ISO 100​

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Very smooth. Nearly invisible​

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ISO 200​

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Visible, but not too objectionable​

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ISO 400​

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Visible and annoying. Definitely needs improvement with 3rd party software ​

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ISO 800​

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[TD]

Blotchy. Sometimes unusable even with software noise reduction
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Nevertheless, it needs to be said that at high ISOs the Sony F828 is noisier than some other digicams, and quite a bit so compared to most 6MP DSLRs.

I should point out, for the benefit of those that see noise in the ISO 64 and ISO 100 F828 frames, that to the extent that it's visible in 100% on-screen enlargements, it's invisible in A3 or Super A3/B sized prints. The same applies to very small amounts of colour fringing. These just can't be seen in real world photographic prints.
​

Unfortunately there are some folks who see a bit of noise texture in a 100% crop and somehow jump to the conclusion that the image is crap. It shouldn't be necessary to point this out, but if the entire image were shown it would be equivalent to an on-screen image almost 3 feet high by 4 feet wide. Of course you're going to see some noise and other artifacts.

So as other's pointed out it's all about nailing exposure for optimal lowest ISO you can get away with. Any under exposure will induce noise into the image.

But even then there usually is noise to contend with in post processing. Shooting Raw on mine I generally have to use NR on shooting anything above 200 base iso.

And as always comes down to sensor capability. And the OP's camera is not the best performer if Noise is a major consideration. Only a better performing camera can eliminate those concerns.
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